BWDIK: Hodgson, Jenkins, Naylor, Pivetta, Sabrowski, Stewart

Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) equaled his career-high when he belted his 11th home run of the season for the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday.

September 1, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes:

-Congratulations to Boston Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) who, with his six-inning start against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, became the 13th Canadian pitcher to toss 1,000 innings in the majors, according to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Pivetta allowed just two runs, but the Red Sox could only muster one in a 2-1 loss. It was the second significant milestone for the Junior National Team alum this season. On May 25, Pivetta became just the sixth Canadian to register 1,000 major league strikeouts when he fanned three batters in his start against the Milwaukee Brewers.

-Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) belted his 11th home run of the season on Wednesday to equal his career-high set in 2023. Naylor is just the second Canadian catcher to have back-to-back, double-digit home run campaigns in the big leagues. Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.) had eight consecutive double-digit home run seasons from 2011 to 2018.

-Despite an otherworldly second half by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.) with the Toronto Blue Jays, Guardians slugger Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) is still on pace to be the first Canadian-born player to reach 100 RBIs this season. Naylor had four RBIs on Friday to increase his season total to 98 (Guerrero has 89 RBIs this season). When Naylor reaches the century mark, it will be his first 100-RBI season. In 2023, he knocked in 97 runs.

-When left-hander Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) was called up by the Guardians on Wednesday, it marked the first time in their franchise history that they have had four Canadians on their 25-man roster. Along with the Naylor brothers, Sabrowski has joined Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) in the Guardians’ bullpen. Sabrowski has yet to make his major league debut. The 26-year-old left-hander had posted a combined 8-3 record and a 3.51 ERA, while striking out 79 in 48 2/3 innings, in 36 relief appearances between double-A and triple-A this season.

-Miami Marlins infielder Otto Lopez, who spent part of his youth in Montreal, has hits in 13 of his last 15 games and has upped his batting average from .230 to .248 in that stretch. During the month of August, he batted .291 with 30 hits and eight stolen bases in 27 games. On February 13, Lopez, who has played for the Canadian national team, had his contract sold to the San Francisco Giants by the Blue Jays. He spent spring training with the Giants before he was designated for assignment and claimed on waivers by the Marlins. Born in Santo Domingo, D.R., Lopez was signed as an international free agent by the Blue Jays on July 4, 2016.

-The Oakland A’s designated Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) for assignment on Tuesday. After no team claimed him on waivers, the switch-hitting infielder was assigned to the A’s triple-A Las Vegas Aviators on Wednesday. It has been a frustrating second half for Toro, who led the American League with 39 hits in May. After missing almost a month with a hamstring injury, he was activated by the A’s on July 21. Since that time, he has gone 9-for-60 in 21 games. In total in 94 contests with the A’s this season, the 27-year-old hit .240 with six home runs, 26 RBIs and a .643 OPS.

-The Texas Rangers celebrated the 50th anniversary of Fergie Jenkins‘ 25-win season in a pre-game ceremony prior to yesterday’s game. The Rangers gave Jenkins a pair of custom-made cowboy boots at the ceremony. After six consecutive 20-win seasons with the Cubs, Jenkins had gone 14-16 with a 3.89 ERA in 38 starts in 1973 and the Cubs feared Jenkins was in the twilight of his career. They traded the ace right-hander to the Rangers and in his first season with the American League club, Jenkins set a career-high with 25 wins. Jenkins also topped the AL with 29 complete games and threw 328 1/3 innings (second in AL) in 41 starts. His 7.8 WAR was third in the AL and he finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Oakland A’s ace Catfish Hunter.

-Speaking of Jenkins, he enjoyed the best all-around performance of his major league career 53 years ago today when he not only pitched a complete game for his 21st win of the season, but he also belted two home runs to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Expos at Wrigley Field.

-Forty-four years ago today, Paul Hodgson (Marysville, N.B.) recorded his first MLB hit with the Blue Jays. He singled to centre field off Rangers right-hander Doc Medich in the ninth inning of the Blue Jays’ 9-1 loss at Arlington Stadium. With that, Hodgson became the second Canadian to Dave McKay (Vancouver, B.C.) to record a hit for the Blue Jays.

-Speaking of Hodgson, I’m fortunate enough to be friends with Paul and his lovely better half, Lisa. On Thursday, I had posted about it being the 44th anniversary of Hodgson being called up by the Blue Jays on social media. As fate would have it, that night, while Paul and Lisa were out for supper at Earls in downtown Toronto, they found themselves sitting at a table next to Paul Godfrey, who was instrumental in bringing the Blue Jays to Toronto in 1977. Here’s a photo of the two Pauls reconnecting:

The second Canadian Blue Jay Paul Hodgson (right) reconnecting with former Blue Jays executive Paul Godfrey at Earls in downtown Toronto on Thursday, which was coincidentally the 44th anniversary of Hodgson’s first big league call-up. Photo: Lisa Chisholm

-Chicago White Sox right-hander Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.), who has been on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder strain since July 19, threw a scoreless inning in both of his rehab appearances (Tuesday and Friday) with the triple-A Charlotte Knights this week. There has been no official word, but it seems likely that Soroka will rejoin the White Sox this week. To say Soroka has had a challenging season is an understatement. His record is 0-10, but for the most part, he had been excellent out of the bullpen for the Sox after beginning the season in the rotation. As a reliever, Soroka owns a 3.49 ERA in 12 relief appearances and has 47 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings. A graduate of the Calgary Redbirds and Junior National Team, Soroka has pitched in parts of five major league seasons.

-On this date 35 years ago, catcher Andy Stewart (Oshawa, Ont.) (pictured above) was signed as an amateur free agent by the Kansas City Royals. He’d go on to play nine seasons in the Royals’ organization, including with the big league Royals in 1997. He is now a highly respected coach and catching instructor with the Ontario Prospects and the Junior National Team.